Poppy tack to fight big dry

DRY conditions in the state’s South-East have tempered poppy harvest projections for the 2019-20 season.

But the industry is rebuilding with more land under poppies this year than last.

Tasmania has 500 growers and those with water are irrigating hard to get their plants off to a good start.

Some early-sown crops in the Sorell region are already under flower while others did not go in until September.

Tasmanian Alkaloids, one of the state’s three poppy companies, had planned to double its poppy crop this season but dry conditions have curtailed those forecasts.

However, the company does have 7000ha under poppies compared to 5000ha last year and predicts a solid season. Three years ago things were looking bleak with only 3500ha dedicated to poppies in Tasmania.

“The poppy world has gone through a lot of pain over the last few years but we are getting back to historical growing levels,” Tasmanian Alkaloids field operations manager Noel Beven said. The early harvest starts in January.

The poppy heads are taken to Tasmanian Alkaloids’ processing facility at Westbury and turned into a refined compound which then goes to world pharmaceutical manufacturers. Two other companies also grow poppies in Tasmania – SunPharma which acquired GSK’s Opiates business in Australia and has a processing facility at Latrobe and Palla Pharma which says it is looking for more growers as demand increases.